We are called to walk worthy of the calling of God (Ephesians 4:1). God called us first to follow him, not to lead. Many times we forget that that’s our number one calling is to follow, not to lead. Better followers we become, better leaders we will be. Here are my few tips on how to become better leaders:

1. Fire of God. God’s leaders are followers of God. When we follow the Lord, we will walk in the fire of the Lord. Following God produces fire of God. Fire doesn’t fall on those who seek to lead but on those who strive to follow the Lord. If your leadership is suffering, maybe instead of working on your leadership, get back on your face before God, start fasting, humble yourself and seek where you are ignoring Holy Spirit’s leadership. You can’t lead well, if you don’t follow well.

2. Family is a priority. Before there was a church or a country, there was family. In fact one of God’s commandments is to honor your father and mother. In family God forms our character and also he looks at our attitude toward our family as a determining factor to bless or not bless our future. Please hear this, God is not looking at how good or bad your family is to determine your future, but how your ATTITUDE toward them is. If you are single, do you honor your father and mother? Do you spend time with them? Do you serve them? Or are you busy running a ministry, small group and developing your gifts at the expense of spending time with your family? If you’re married, are you prioritizing your spouse? Are you pursuing your spouse? God will bless you if you honor the family.

3. Fitness. Yes, Paul said that physical fitness is not of huge profit as compared to godliness. But he also said that whoever destroys the temple of God, those God will destroy. When we don’t take care of our bodies, we don’t honor the Holy Spirit – our body is his house. Fitness, I mean is to drink plenty of water, eat right, active living, and restorative sleep. All this requires discipline and self-control. As leaders, we are soldiers, the mark of a soldier is discipline. Many leaders have let themselves go in their physical area and have become couch potatoes. Therefore they lack energy and motivation. It hurts their leadership. A leader without energy is a weak leader.

4. Friendships. God has friends. Jesus had friends. In fact, he was called a friend of sinners. Without having godly friends, our life will miss holy fun. Friends make life fun but they also help us to preserve the fire of God. Friends bring influence in our life. If they are good friends, they bring holy influence, if they are terrible friends they corrupt our godly habits. You can’t choose your family but you must choose friends. Make time for friends. Build friendships. Life and ministry shouldn’t be done in isolation.

5. Fed. Leaders got to develop an appetite to learn and grow. When you stop feeding, you stop leading. Leadership hits a lid when learning takes a backseat. We must continue to feed ourselves with God’s word, truths of God and with content that builds up our spiritual muscles. You got to understand that the fire of God comes from the fuel of God. If there is no fuel there will be no fire. If you lost the hunger for God, there is only one reason, you stopped eating and feeding yourself with things of God. For a leader – that’s super dangerous.

So that’s my little rant. Dear leader, focus on following more than leading. Keep the fire burning by putting the fuel into your soul. Don’t value work more than family. And please have fun and friends. Take God seriously, and yourself less seriously.

This blog was written by Vladimir Savchuk.

Pastor Vlad is the lead pastor of Hungry Generation Church, an author of “Break Free” and “Single, Ready to Mingle” and a founder of free online school “Vlad’s School.” To download free e-books, sermon series, small group study guides go to vladimirsavchuk.com